


Hometown Pride

by ahappyphil



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2010, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23515522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahappyphil/pseuds/ahappyphil
Summary: Dan takes Phil around Wokingham
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 37
Kudos: 105





	Hometown Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt by @calvinahobbes who wanted some 2010 bbs ft. Dan’s car

Dan still isn’t quite used to Phil being in his space. He likes to keep these two parts of his life separate, both mentally and physically. Like somehow being here is going to taint what feels like the only good thing in his life. 

Phil just seems happy to be here. He’s polite to his parents and tries to acknowledge Adrian on the rare occasion Dan doesn’t time them emerging from his room just right. They have significantly less privacy here than up north. His brother is almost always home and the paper thin walls feel all too exposing. 

It feels off and he hates his brain for trying to ruin the precious time he gets with Phil, regardless of the circumstances. 

Because Phil knows him, because he’s somehow already learned Dan’s little tells that he needs a reset, he suggests they get out of the house and Dan take him on a tour around town. 

All it takes is the sound that his parents are home downstairs for Dan to agree and push them out the door to his car. 

*

The May sun is too hot with the windows rolled down to help with Phil’s car sickness as they make their way to nowhere in particular. It’s astounding how he can make these familiar roads seem like an adventure. 

He doesn’t even realize where he’s heading until they’re there. 

“Here’s where I did theater. Badly.”

He pulls in the empty parking lot to take it in. The building looks the same. He doesn't know why he expected it not to be. Maybe because it feels like a lifetime ago since he’s been in there. 

“I bet you were amazing.” Phil takes the extra effort to lean across the center console and nudge his shoulder. 

“I was crap.” He laughs in a way that equal parts self deprecating and resentful of himself for giving up something he loved. “I miss it sometimes.”

“I probably would have had a massive crush on you.”

Sometimes Phil likes to fantasize about what it would have been like if they met earlier in life and were closer in age. If they got to brave through those terrible awkward years together. Dan usually hums quietly. He doesn’t want to fuck it up by reminding Phil of their vastly different experiences and not even he could have made it better back then. 

“No you wouldn't.” Dan pulls out of the parking lot and decides to head to the only decent coffee shop in town. Phil is due for his afternoon coffee and he needs to stop this trip down memory lane. “I wasn’t a very good person. I was kind of a dick and I was loud.”

“Well, I like you now.” Phil gives him a sweet smile that is severely undercut by his fringe stick straight up, the wind causing his hair to look even more bird’s nest like. 

Dan can’t help but laugh as he tries to fix it. A real laugh. A Phil laugh. 

“Shut up! You’re still loud by the way.” 

*

He doesn’t feel the need to continue the tour. There’s not really much else to show Phil anyway. The field where he would get shitfaced and pretend like things were okay until whatever boy he was kissing left to go off with a girl for some ‘real fun’. The ASDA he was fired from last year. No way in hell he’s even driving near his old school. 

The only places left that don’t leave him with a twist in his gut are the train station that takes him out of here and his grandmother’s house. 

He thought about paying her a visit for just a second, but she’s probably off having an actual social life. Plus, the thought of bringing Phil with him brings back the knots in his stomach. She’s met him in passing; she knows his name, but they’ve never had a proper chat. 

It hurts because she’d probably like him. She’d find him funny and sweet. He’d compliment whatever food she had made that day. They’d bond over whatever bird appears in the window.

And then Dan would inevitably fuck it up by saying too much, by letting too much truth slip out because even though he’s almost 19, Nana has a way of making him momentarily forget the weight of all the secrets and shame he keeps buried down. 

He doesn’t think he’s ready to witness her connecting the dots. But he also can’t bear the thought of her seeing them together and not understanding the severity of what this is, of who Phil is to him and what he’s done to his life. 

Phil snaps him out of his spiral by playing with the radio. He should really start paying attention to where he’s going and stop zoning out. 

He wants to enjoy this. He wants to revel in the fact that he’s driving a fit guy who happens to be in love with him around town. That he’s popular enough that if he were in a bigger city, people would have stopped and asked for a picture with them. In a way, they have a privacy here they don’t usually have in Manchester. 

That gives him an idea. 

*

He finds the first abandoned car park he comes across. Phil is still sipping on his frozen sugar concoction and doesn’t question it until Dan rolls up the windows and puts the car in park. 

“What you doin’?” 

“I hate only having bad memories here.” He’s hoping Phil will pick up on what’s happening here so he doesn’t actually have to embarrass himself by spelling it out. 

Phil still looks at him like he’s waiting for the punchline.

“So I want to make a few good ones before I get the hell out.”

Still nothing. 

“To remember when you’re not here anymore…”

He leans over to Phil’s space, making sure his shirt droops far enough down to expose his collar bones, giving him the very specific look he’s figured out will do the trick 8/10 times (10/10 if Phil’s not hungry or still cranky from waking up). 

Phil seems to finally get the hint. “Oh!” He giggles as he makes his way across the console and into Dan’s lap. 

It’s cramped. Way too tight to really do anything good, but also kind of perfect. It feels like the very beginning when they’d end up snogging through an entire film without it going further because they were too caught up in each other. 

The seat is all the way back and Phil’s straddling him the best he can with the limited space. He tastes like mocha and his fingers are still a little cold from holding his drink for so long. Everything feels heightened, like they’re getting away with something dangerous. 

He knows there’s no real danger here. It’s practically dark now and if anyone were to catch them, they’d just assume it was two teenagers and leave them be. But it still feels exhilarating and freeing in a way that no other kiss he’s had in this town has. 

Phil has no shame. He works at his neck like they’re back home and unconsciously grinds down as if it’s doing more for him than it is for Dan. Sometimes he forgets that Phil also missed out on these kinds of experiences in his hometown. That his teen years were also filled with that feeling of doubt and shame and knowing you were different.

He breaks away from the kiss just to look for a second. It’s kind of ridiculous how head over heels he is. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He’s got both his hands on Phil’s face and he knows he’s completely ruining the mood, but he just can’t help it sometimes. “I love you.”

It’s been six months of them saying it at every opportune time, on the phone and hushed under the covers and in text messages or hand written cards, and the effect still hasn’t quite worn off. It still makes him fluttery. 

Luckily, Phil’s accustomed to his romantic nature creeping up seemingly from nowhere, so he just smiles and kisses him again. “Love you too.” There’s a silent agreement that it’s time to go home.

They eat the pizza they grabbed on the way and Dan gets to work on editing the video they’d filmed earlier. Phil genuinely compliments his editing skills and adds some input but mostly let’s Dan take the lead, and Dan has to pretend like there’s not a part of him that still gets a little starstruck sometimes. 

He gets distracted halfway through and pulls Phil back on top of him because he’s still a teenager and they did make out for a good hour earlier with no release. Also, he was serious about making good memories in this place. 

He likes that when he uploads AmazingDan, he can look back and remember today. Remember the way Phil looked in the passenger seat and how he made this town seem better than it’s ever been. He’ll remember tonight, and every other night they’ve spent in these brown walls replacing some of the bad feelings with new ones. 

Nothing is fixed. He still hates this place. He’s aware of the secrets he still keeps and the things he’s not ready to share. His parents still don’t get it. But it’s okay. Right now, it’s okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Reblog [here](https://ahappydnp.tumblr.com/post/614674282038083584/hometown-pride-t-15k-summary-dan-takes-phil) :)


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